EU solar antidumping case

Suntech Europe’s Jerry Stokes points out that increasing the cost of solar by introducing an anti-dumping duty will delay deployment of renewable energy by increasing costs.

He might have a point there. On the other hand, the review of the Commission will depend on other factors. The plaintiffs will have to show that Chinese makers sell their solar panels cheaper in the EU than on the domestic market. Dumping is not just selling cheaper than German producers (that’s just normal competition).

Or, alternatively, they would need to show that there are illegal subsidies involved. Not all subsidies are illegal under the WTO rules.

Actually, if the feed-in tariffs system works as it is supposed to, for the German market any rise in solar panel prices should be irrelevant. If prices rise substantially, so would the feed-in tariffs.